If you were watching the returns on election night, you probably saw the maps bleeding red in places they usually don’t. It wasn’t just a rural landslide this time. The big story of the night—and the one that’s going to be studied for decades—is how the coalition of who voted for Trump 2024 actually looked. It wasn't just the "base" anymore.
Things got weird. In a way that pollsters are still trying to figure out, the traditional lines of American politics blurred. We’re talking about a significant rightward shift in big cities, among young men, and specifically within the Latino community. Honestly, if you only looked at the 2016 or 2020 data, you’d be completely lost trying to understand how Donald Trump ended up with the second-highest vote total in U.S. history: roughly 77.2 million votes.
The Latino Shift No One Predicted
For years, the "demographics is destiny" crowd argued that as the U.S. became more diverse, Republicans would struggle. 2024 basically set that theory on fire.
Trump didn't just "do better" with Hispanic voters; he nearly fought to a draw. According to Pew Research Center, Trump grabbed about 48% of the Hispanic vote. Compare that to the 36% he got in 2020. That is a massive, double-digit swing. In places like Maverick County, Texas—a border community that is over 90% Latino—the shift was seismic. Biden won it easily in 2020. In 2024? Trump flipped it.
It wasn't just Texas, though. We saw it in Florida, in New Jersey, and in the "blue wall" states. Hispanic men, in particular, moved toward Trump in record numbers. Why? Most exit polls point to the economy. When people feel like they can’t buy groceries or pay rent, traditional party loyalty starts to feel like a luxury they can’t afford.
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The Gender Gap and the "Bro" Vote
You've probably heard a lot about the gender gap. It’s real. But it’s not exactly what you think.
While Kamala Harris won women by about 7 points, Trump grew his support among women to 45%. It’s a small tick up from 43% in 2020, but it matters because it happened despite the huge focus on abortion access.
The real story, though, is the men.
- Trump won 55% of all men.
- He made massive gains with men under 50.
- In 2020, Biden won men under 50 by 10 points. In 2024, that group was a toss-up, with Trump actually leading 49% to 48%.
There was this whole "podcast bro" strategy—appearing on Joe Rogan, Theo Von, and Nelk Boys—that critics laughed at. Well, it worked. He reached a group of younger, disillusioned men who felt "unseen" by the modern Democratic party. They weren't necessarily voting on "conservative values" in the old-school religious sense. They were voting on a vibe of strength and a promise to "shake things up."
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The Education Divide is the New Class War
If you want to know who voted for Trump 2024, look at a person's college diploma. Or lack thereof.
This is arguably the deepest fracture in the country right now. People with postgraduate degrees backed Harris by nearly two-to-one. But the working class? That’s Trump territory now. Among voters without a four-year degree, Trump held a 14-point advantage (56% to 42%).
This isn't just a "white working class" thing anymore. Non-college Hispanic and even some Black voters are starting to align more with white non-college voters than they are with college-educated members of their own racial groups. It’s a class-based realignment.
Religious Attendance Matters (A Lot)
Religion still plays a huge role, but it’s specifically about attendance.
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- 64% of people who attend religious services at least monthly voted for Trump.
- Among White Evangelical Protestants, that number was a staggering 85%.
- Interestingly, Hispanic Protestants also broke heavily for Trump (64%), while Hispanic Catholics stayed mostly with Harris.
The Rural Stronghold and the Urban Inroad
Trump’s margins in rural America reached heights we haven’t seen this century. He won 93% of all rural counties nationwide. In some of these places, he was pulling 70% or 80% of the total vote.
But you can't win a popular vote on rural counties alone. You need to cut the margins in the cities. And he did.
In New York City, a place where Republicans usually go to disappear, Trump made double-digit gains in Queens and the Bronx. In Passaic County, New Jersey—a suburban area outside NYC—he actually took a slim lead after getting crushed there in 2020. He didn't have to win the cities; he just had to lose them less badly than before.
What This Means for the Future
The 2024 election proved that the Republican party is morphing into a multi-ethnic, working-class coalition. It’s a weird mix: rural farmers, young "crypto bros," Latino small business owners, and blue-collar union workers who feel the economy has left them behind.
If you're trying to figure out how to navigate this new political landscape, here are a few things to keep in mind:
- Stop looking at race in a vacuum. Class and education levels are now much better predictors of how someone will vote.
- Economic "vibes" beat data. Even if the stock market is high, if the "cost of living" feels high to a voter, they will vote for the challenger.
- Media consumption is fractured. The traditional TV ad doesn't reach the young men who decided this election; long-form podcasts and social media clips do.
The coalition that voted for Trump in 2024 isn't a fluke. It’s the result of a decade-long shift that finally reached a tipping point. Whether this group stays together for the next cycle is the big question, but for now, the map has changed.